DARE SERIES COLLECTION

by Tessier, Shantel

  “Maybe he does.”

  She walks over to me and places her hands on her hips. Her blue eyes glare up at me. “What? Suddenly, you have a come to Jesus moment?”

  I laugh at that statement. There’s nothing religious about me.

  “If I go down, you’ll go with me. And he’ll have nothing to do with you.” She smiles like she won. No one ever does when they go up against me. Hasn’t she learned that?

  I return her smile, but mine is much more threatening. Hers disappears, and her breathing picks up. “That’s where you’re wrong, Becky. I’m not the one who fucked his best friend. You are.”

  She gives me the sweetest smile, trying to act like I’m not getting to her. It’s the same one I’ve seen men drop to their knees for, including my best friend. Pathetic bastards. “You didn’t stop me.”

  “I didn’t,” I admit and take a step toward her, closing the little space between us. “Ever wonder why?” All the color drains from her face. I refrain from smiling. Instead, I lean down, her face inches from mine, and whisper, “Who said I didn’t record you?” Becky should know not to fuck with me!

  I straighten my back.

  “You didn’t.” Her voice barely over a whisper. Her eyes are wide with fear.

  I say nothing.

  “We had a deal,” she argues. “You kept your mouth shut, and I’d do the same. I even covered for you to Austin.”

  I snort. “I didn’t need you to lie for me.” I had that covered all on my own.

  “She’s not like all those whores you’ve been with, Cole,” she snaps.

  “Watch it, Becky!”

  She sighs and runs a hand through her bleach blond hair. “Austin is my best friend. I should have never helped you. I thought …” She looks up at me. “I was gonna come clean to her so many times, but I thought I saw you falling in love with her.” She looks down at the carpet. “That day in the cafeteria when I told you that I saw a change in you …” She sniffs and shakes her head. “I should have realized she was just another game to you.”

  “Things have changed,” I say through gritted teeth.

  “I don’t see it that way,” Becky argues. “Austin asked me about why you didn’t drink at the beach party, and I explained what happened. I took up for you,” she growls through gritted teeth, looking back up at me. “Told her that they blamed you, but it was an accident.”

  “Oh, please.” I laugh. “We both know the truth.”

  “I lied to her for you.” She shoves me backward, but I don’t budge.

  “You lied, but it wasn’t for me.” Does she think I’ve forgotten what happened that night?

  She ignores my comment. “I continued to cover for you even though I had no clue what was going on. I saw you falling for her, so I wanted to help you out. I didn’t want her to see you as a murderer like everyone else in this town. The things people had said about you …” She trails off, unable to get the words out.

  I stiffen. Austin already knew I was a murderer long before she knew I killed three of my friends. “Austin knows I wasn’t driving.”

  “You told her?” she asks wide-eyed.

  I shake my head. “She realized I was in the passenger seat. She thinks I’m covering for Eli.”

  She swallows nervously. “Did you …?”

  “I let her believe whatever she wanted.” My jaw tightens at those words, knowing I’m still keeping quite a few secrets from her. At some point, I’ll need to come clean, but that means telling the others as well.

  She nods her head quickly and then runs her hand through her hair. “But I also told her the truth, Cole. It was an accident.”

  I fist my hands. “God, quit fucking saying that.”

  “It’s true.” She sighs heavily. “We both know none of us could have seen that happening.”

  “We were reckless.” No one should have been in that car other than me.

  I should have left their asses at that party and left on my own. Jeff must have followed me that night and set it up. We were out of control. Partying every night of the week and never thinking twice when we got in the car to leave. He knew I’d be out drinking that Saturday night, and he knew what the town would say about me once I was dead. But he didn’t count on me not driving. And surviving. I’ve just wondered why he never came back for me once he realized I didn’t die. Why didn’t Bruce try again?

  “Bruce paid to kill you,” she snaps.

  “Which is what makes it my fault!” I shout back.

  She places her hands on my upper arms, but I pull away from her, and they fall to her sides. I’m confused about how we got here. This conversation. At what point did it take a turn? A very bad turn. We don’t discuss that night.

  “The only ones who blamed you didn’t know the truth.”

  I don’t have anything to say to that because that was my plan all along. No one needed to know the truth. I’ve lived with secrets all my life, so what’s one more?

  “You’re right.” Her eyes meet mine. “We both have secrets. And I’ll keep yours if you keep mine.”

  I won’t point out that I hold two secrets of hers. If she told mine, then she would be telling on herself.

  Her head falls, and she looks at Austin’s closet floor. “Deke would never forgive me if he knew the truth.”

  The truth is Bruce paid to kill all of us in that car. Why would he hate her so much for that? He would be mad that she hid it, but never forgive her? I’d forgive Austin. I decide to change the subject. “He told Bennett and me that you guys are over.”

  “When?” Her blue eyes go wide.

  “Does it matter?” I ask. She lets out a long sigh. “If you wanna work it out, Becky, you need to tell him. It’s out. Bruce paid …”

  “No!” She shakes her head and tears start to well in her eyes. “I love him, Cole.”

  “Then why did you break up with him?” I’ve always known how Deke felt about Becky but how she feels about him …?

  “Maybe he broke up with me,” she offers.

  I laugh. “I know him.”

  She looks around the closet as if searching for an answer. “Bruce won’t matter. He’ll blame me. I’m in too deep. Too many lies. And Austin …”

  My jaw clenches. “I think she deserves to know.”

  “No!”

  “So you want to continue to lie to her too?”

  “What is going on between me and my best friend is not a lie. I’ve never once fabricated a story to her, but Deke I have.”

  “It’s still a secret,” I offer.

  “It was a deal!” she snaps. “And she won’t forgive you.”

  She would. I’m not saying it wouldn’t take time, but I’ve done far worse to her than lie. “You make it sound like we had a contract written in blood.” Which, in a way, I guess it was. Both of us had blood on our hands.

  Her eyes narrow on me. “You’re right. It was more like an understanding. You took the fall for me, making me owe you. And then, one day, you came to collect.”

  Four months ago

  I sit in my father’s darkly lit game room on the chaise lounge. Deke, Bennett, and Shane are all over by the pool table. Each with a girl under their arm. Kellan sits over on the couch watching the basketball game playing on the big screen, but there’s no sound. Instead, “Devilish” by Chase Atlantic plays through the speakers.

  Looking down at my phone, I go to my contacts. I sent Austin a text, giving her my address, but I did it from Deke’s phone instead of mine. I wanted to remind her she was outnumbered. And alone.

  Celeste is forcing my hand. Not that I didn’t want to play with the feisty brunette with striking green eyes, but I wanted to do it my way. Now I need reinforcements. Of the female kind. I don’t have any friends who are girls. Hell, I barely have any guy friends. If they’re not a shark, I don’t pay them any mind. And even the women I fuck, I stay clear of. No need for conversation afterward.

  Scrolling through the contacts on my phone, I go to the one name I know who owe
s me a favor. I just didn’t think I’d get to cash in this soon.

  Becky Holt—the girl that my best friend Deke is in love with—just happens to owe me a lot. We never speak. Never hang out. Not anymore. We keep our distance and for a good reason. One of the last times I saw her, she had tears running down her face, smearing her flawless makeup. Her shirt was torn, and she had blood on her hands. I told her to run. And she did just that.

  I quickly send her a text, knowing she’s here tonight. I saw her downstairs earlier. And that’s why Deke has decided to fuck Sara Logan tonight—to try and make Becky jealous.

  Me: Ready?

  It shows read immediately. I see the three dots bounce around and then disappear. My smile widens.

  They bounce around again before my phone vibrates in my hands.

  B: ?

  Me: A friend of mine is coming tonight. You would make a great friend for her too.

  Her response is instant.

  B: You don’t have any girls who are friends.

  Touché.

  Me: Her name is Austin. Brunette. Green eyes. Probably wearing something red. Text me when she gets here.

  B: And why do you want to know that?

  Me: It’s time to pay up! Then I send the devil emoji.

  I lay my phone on my leg. I told my new toy ten, and it’s thirty minutes past that now. Kids actually started arriving at nine, but I wanted to make sure the house was full of people before she showed. I knew she’d arrive late. She wants to prove she’s not afraid of me and that she still holds all the cards. I like that.

  “Bennett?” I call over to him.

  He unwraps himself from his nightly fuck and comes over to me. I look up at him from my lounge. “Do you have the video from my father’s warehouse?” I made her steal a car with me last night. Her daddy’s car. Just more insurance. And she has no idea I’m going to use it against her. Fuck, it’s going to be so easy to break this girl. She’ll be in tears and begging me from her knees in no time. My cock is hard just thinking about it.

  He nods. “Yes. And I sent it to Deke’s phone. It’s good to go.”

  Perfect!

  Kellan jumps to his feet. “I don’t understand why you want her so badly.”

  “You don’t have to understand,” I say.

  His jaw tightens. I feel my phone vibrate. I look down to see it’s from Becky.

  B: She’s here. Kitchen.

  I don’t respond.

  Showtime.

  “Only One King,” by Tommee Profitt, Jung Yong begins to play, and a smile spreads across my face. Game on, sweetheart.

  I look at Kellan. “Our guest has arrived. Go get her. She’s in the kitchen. And Kellan? Don’t touch her,” I warn. She’s all mine.

  He just stands there for a few seconds and then marches out the door, slamming it behind him. I lean back, crossing my ankles, and prop my head up with my hand behind it and wait.

  Austin Lowes wants me. I saw the way she looked at me. And it’s unfortunate for her that I want her too. Just in a completely different way. And the thing about the GWS is that they always get what they want. No matter who they have to hurt, blackmail, or kill. They win.

  “The moment she walked back into the kitchen with you, I about had a heart attack.” Becky shakes her head, interrupting my thoughts. “I thought maybe you guys knew each other. But when you walked away, I asked her how she knew you, and she said you had just met.” She lets out a long breath. “I should have told you no. Then you kissed her …” She begins to pace. “I should have never helped you use her.”

  She has no idea about half the shit I’ve done to Austin. “I fell in love with her.” I sigh. “I know, Becky. I’m a horrible human being, and I’ve done some really shady shit in my life.”

  She stops pacing and looks up at me. “And what? Austin is how you redeem yourself? You think if she sticks around that you can make it better over time?”

  “No. I—”

  “Did you kill Kellan?” She interrupts me.

  Fuck! This is starting to sound like the conversation I had with Shelby over Jeff. “Yes,” I admit. What’s she going to do? She can’t prove it. No one ever will.

  She begins to pace again. “Were all of you involved?” she asks me, biting the tips of her nails.

  “I can’t answer for the others—”

  “I’m asking if Deke helped you kill him,” she shouts, interrupting me.

  “No,” I answer.

  She looks me in the eyes, and I will her to believe me. I’m not lying to save Deke’s ass. I didn’t tell her the truth to keep her in the lie she’s been in since she started dating him. He’ll never show her the real him. He showed her what he wants her to see, and I’m not going to take that away from her.

  Not knowing is bliss. The truth would be crippling.

  She falls to her ass in the middle of the closet and pulls her knees to her chest. Obviously, my lie wasn’t believable enough. “I know why you did it.” She sobs. “I know why he would help you do it.” She starts rocking back and forth.

  I lean my shoulder up against the door and cross my arms over my chest. Fuck, this day started out great, but it sure has taken a turn for the worst.

  She pulls her face from her knees and looks up at me, blue eyes full of tears. “I was so afraid for Austin. I thought she was …dead.” She sobs.

  Me too. “She’s gonna be okay. She’s strong.”

  Becky nods once. “She is.” Then she gives a weird hiccupping laugh. “She managed to tie you down.”

  I smile and agree. “She did.” My phone begins to ring in my pocket. I answer and place it on speakerphone when I see it’s Shelby, allowing Becky to hear whatever update she has to give us on Austin.

  “Hello?”

  “Cole?” she whispers. “Where are you? Get back here! Austin is freaking out.”

  I snatch the laptop off the bed. Becky and I are already walking out of the room by the time she stops speaking. “Why? She okay?”

  “The police are back here to talk to her. I tried to tell them no, but she said it was okay. Well, once they mentioned something about a recording of what happened at the Lowes’ residence, she started bawling, so I told them to give her a few minutes to calm down.”

  “Do they expect her to listen to it?” I demand. That’s the last thing she needs to hear. She’s already lived it once.

  “They haven’t got that far. Deke is in there with her right now—”

  “Take him your phone.” I interrupt her.

  Becky and I are running out the back door. We’re in my car before his voice snaps through my speakers. “Cole.”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Now I’m glad I left him there with her. “Do they expect her to listen to that fucking tape?”

  “I think so.” He sighs, and my Bluetooth picks up the conversation. “They mentioned that she stabbed him. And by the amount of blood loss they found in the house, they said he would either be dead or in an ER.”

  “So?” I snap, flying down the road. Becky remains silent in the passenger seat.

  “So they’ve called all surrounding hospitals, and he’s not a patient anywhere.”

  I glance in my rear-view mirror, making sure I’m not about to get pulled over since I’m doing twenty over the limit. “They think he’s dead.”

  “Pretty much. Austin’s eyes went wide with fear when they said that was their conclusion. You could tell the cops know what we did, and they think she knows what we did. So he told her they knew it was self-defense because they heard the tape … and she just lost it. I mean, hell, the bastard has been dead for four days now! They have to know they aren’t gonna fucking find him!” he whispers harshly.

  I look over at Becky, and she’s looking straight ahead out the windshield and a tear runs down her cheek. Deke just told on himself. She knows I lied to her, and that I didn’t kill Kellan on my own.

  “I’m almost there. Let me talk to her.”

  “Cole?” Austin’s broken voi
ce comes on seconds later.

  My chest tightens. “Hey, sweetheart. I’m on my way back. Don’t say anything else until I get there. I’m gonna call my father’s attorney.” I kick myself for not already doing it, but I didn’t think they would go to her. The recording should have been enough for them to wrap up the damn investigation.

  “What? Why?”

  “It was self-defense, Austin. They can’t—”

  “No, Cole.” She interrupts me. “I don’t care about that. They have it on tape.” She begins to cry again. “Kellan told me that he watched me burn Jeff’s body.” Becky’s head whips over to look at me. “The car we stole …”

  “Austin …”

  “And that your final dare was to kill Bruce.” She sobs. “They know everything. You can’t come back up here. They’re gonna … arrest you.”

  I ignore Becky, knowing she’s thinking what the fuck? “Babe, listen. It’s all okay. The one we gave to the police isn’t the original copy.”

  “It’s not?” She sniffs, trying to calm her sobs.

  “No. Bennett altered it. They know nothing.”

  After a long moment of silence, she whispers, “Okay.”

  “Let me talk to Deke for a second.”

  “Yeah?” he asks, coming on the line.

  “Don’t let them in her room. I’m on my way.” I hang up and look over at Becky. She arches a brow at me. I just shrug. Motherfucker! “Well, you wanted to know.”

  She turns to look back out the windshield. “When Deke came to my house yesterday, I asked him about Kellan. I had a feeling you had killed him because it was strange he wasn’t around and then how things went down with Shane at the hospital. Deke informed me he had spoken to him that morning.” She sucks in a long breath. “Which would have been hard to do, considering the two of you killed him three days before that.”

  Fuck!

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  DEKE

  THE DOOR FLIES open to Austin’s room, and Cole enters followed by his attorney. “Where are they?” Cole demands.